Sept 25 (Reuters) – Pfizer (PFE.N) said on Monday it had restarted most production lines at its tornado-ravaged North Carolina plant, but warned that it may not fully restore supply for some drugs from that site until at least mid next year.
The company’s Rocky Mount plant, one of the largest sterile injectable drug facilities in the world, was hit by a tornado on July 19, and Pfizer had warned then that some drugs, including the painkiller fentanyl, could see supply disruptions.
While Pfizer said on Monday that it expects full production to resume at the plant by the end of the year, it warned that the supply of drugs from the site would be affected until at least mid-2024.
Last month, the company said it expected to resume production at the plant by the beginning of the fourth quarter.
Pfizer has added a new sterile injectables production line as part of this resumption. The line was previously approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
The drugmaker’s sterile injectable products include anesthetics, analgesics and anti-infectives for use in hospitals.
